Food » chinese

Pork, cabbage, and dumpling soup

mike — Sun, 22 May 2011 05:13:36 +0000

I basically followed this recipe. I’d never made dumplings before, and it was fun and easy. Unfortunately, I used the wrong kind of cabbage and the soup tasted a little too cabbagey — next time, no red cabbage. Also, with 5 dried red chilies, it was a little too hot — I prefer to cook less spicy and let people add extra chili sauce to taste. Also, the pork chunks were a little too big. Next time: find sichuan peppercorns, try adding stuff to the dumplings (chives, sesame oil). I also plan to try the basic dumpling approach in other soups, particularly house special noodles.

Ingredients

Soup
2 tbsp peanut oil or other cooking oil
5 dried red chilies, snipped in half
1 tsp black peppercorns, whole
8 scallions (white plus a couple inches green part), cut into 1-inch lengths
1 lb pork country ribs, in 1/2″ slices
2 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 head red cabbage, shredded
1/2 head green cabbage, shredded
Approx. 8 crimini mushrooms, sliced

Dumplings
2 c all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 c – 1 c water

Directions

Heat a large dutch oven (or large pot, in a pinch) over high heat. Add the oil and swirl it around the pan. With the fan on and all windows open, throw in the peppercorns and chilies. Stir-fry for 20 seconds. Add the scallions and stir-fry another 30 seconds. Add the pork and stir-fry until no longer pink. Add the soy sauce and stir-fry for another minute. Add the cabbage and mushrooms and stir-fry until the cabbage wilts, about 5 minutes. Add water to just cover everything and bring to a boil. Cover partially, reduce to a simmer, and simmer for about 45 minutes, until the meat is tender, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, prepare the dumpling dough. Mix the flour, salt, and water together with a fork until blended. Dough should be sticky and fairly dry; it should barely move when the bowl is tipped.

When the soup is ready, begin adding the dough. Scoop up a small amount of dough (no more than the first joint of your forefinger) with a spoon and then scrape it into the pot with another spoon. Let the dumplings float on the top. If you run out of space, occasionally stir them into the liquid and continue. Once all the dough has been added, partially cover the pot and let simmer another 10 minutes.

Serve with thinly-sliced scallions, chili sauce, chili oil, or soy sauce to taste.

House special noodles

mike — Mon, 09 May 2011 05:55:29 +0000

House special noodles isn’t a recipe so much as a general concept — noodle soup made with whatever happens to be handy, the more the merrier. This one was fortunately much more successful than our last attempt and will probably be the basis for future recipes. The vital difference was using chicken broth rather than beef — it seems easier (Cook’s Illustrated certainly think so) to make a tasty, flavorful chicken stock at home than a beef one. We had the soup with some fried chicken, which was tasty shredded and added in. Next time, I’ll add some poached chicken or other meat directly, though the soup is perfectly good without it. Shumai or wontons would also be good.

Ingredients

Soup
1.5 quarts chicken stock (1 is probably enough for two servings; 1.5 was generous)
12 oz thick noodles, as fresh as possible (e.g. udon)
4-6 medium-sized crimini mushrooms, thinly sliced
1-2″ ginger, peeled, cut in matchsticks
1-2 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
1 tbsp soy sauce

For serving
1/4 white onion, thinly sliced
2 scallions, thinly sliced
lime wedges
fish sauce
chili sauce (sriracha or sambal olek)

Directions

Bring the stock to a boil then decrease to a simmer. Add the mushrooms, ginger, garlic, and soy sauce. Simmer for 10-15 minutes. Cook the noodles in the soup (e.g. fresh udon just needs to simmer for about 3 minutes), or prepare the noodles ahead of time and add to the soup for the last few minutes. Split between two bowls and add the white onions and scallions. Add lime, a dash of fish sauce, and chili sauce to taste.

Stir-fry noodles with chicken and broccoli

mike — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 04:09:08 +0000

I based this recipe off the general approach in our favorite pad thai recipe, but with a soy-hoisin base instead of fish sauce-ketchup. It came out pretty good, though the sauce could be lightened a little (maybe reduce the soy and hoisin, maybe add a little lime or something). The noodles also came out slightly gluey, I think from being thoroughly cooked and then absorbing all that sauce; undercooking them a little would probably help. I used brown rice vermicelli noodles, but using regular pad thai noodles, or thick chinese wheat noodles should be good as well.

Ingredients

8-12 oz brown rice noodles, rice noodles, or thick wheat noodles (vermicelli or rice stick style)
1 lb boneless chicken breast, trimmed of fat and sliced across the grain in 1/4″ slices
1-2 heads of broccoli
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2″ ginger, peeled and cut in matchsticks
2 scallions (or spring garlic shoots or negi green onions), sliced

Marinade (these amounts are really approximate)
1/4 c soy sauce
1/8 c shaoxing wine
1/8 c rice wine vinegar
2 tsp corn starch

Sauce
1/8 c soy sauce
1/8 c hoisin sauce
1/8 c rice wine vinegar
1/8 c water
2 tsp sugar
vegetable oil

Directions

Mix the marinade ingredients in a bowl, until the corn starch is fully dissolved. Add the chicken and let marinate for 10-15 minutes. Prepare the noodles according to their directions, undercooking them slightly to prevent them from becoming too gluey. Rinse thoroughly with cold water, making sure the noodles do not clump. Separate the broccoli heads from the stems. Peel the stems and cut into 1-2″ matchsticks. Separate the heads into long, thin florets. Mix the sauce ingredients and set aside.

Drain the chicken from the marinade thoroughly. Heat a wok on high heat and add oil, swirling to coat the bottom and sides. Add the chicken and spread it out in a single layer along the wok bottom. Allow to sear without mixing for 1-2 minutes. Stir-fry the chicken until just cooked and remove to a plate. Add a little more oil and stir-fry the broccoli florets for several minutes and remove to a plate. Reduce heat to medium and add a little more oil. Saute the garlic and ginger briefly until fragrant. Add the scallions, the sauce mix, and the noodles. Toss thoroughly and let stir-fry for a few minutes until the sauce is mostly absorbed. Add the chicken, broccoli florets, and broccoli stems. Stir-fry for a couple more minutes then serve with chili sauce for heat.

House special noodles

mike — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 22:40:52 +0000

Inspired by a bowl of “house special” soup at Green Leaf that included all kinds of stuff (in comparison to my usual favorite, the elegantly simple pho), we decided to make our own house special soup with whatever was on hand. This one came out pretty good, though if the base broth (a failed pho attempt) had been better, the soup would have been as well.

Ingredients

1 quart broth (pho broth, chicken stock, etc)
6 oz noodles (hand-shaved noodles, udon, etc)
6 Vietnamese meatballs
6 frozen dumplings, shumai, etc
4-6 medium crimini mushrooms, halved and sliced
2-3 bunches baby bok choy
green onions, thai basil, or chives, chopped
hoisin sauce, chili sauce
limes
sesame oil

Directions

Prepare the noodles as directed. Meanwhile, add the dumplings and meatballs to the stock and heat it over medium heat. Saute the bok choy in the sesame oil for a few minutes over medium heat. Add the mushrooms for a minute or two.

Serve by placing a serving of noodles in each bowl, topped by some of the greens. Add dumplings and meatballs, then cover with broth. Add a squeeze of lime, hoisin, and chili sauce to taste.

Fried chicken with broccoli, mushrooms, and chili sauce

mike — Sun, 30 May 2010 17:02:06 +0000

This is a simple stir-fry — or at least it’s simple once you’ve made the chicken. The mixture of the garlic and chili bean sauce is pretty good, but it didn’t really form a sauce for the dish, more a light coating with tasty chunks of garlic. If I did this again, I might add a little soy combined with other flavors and cornstarch at the end for a sauce. Though you want to be careful not to get the chicken too soggy; the thing to do would be probably create the sauce before adding the chicken and then add the chicken, toss it, and serve immediately so that the chicken picks up some flavor but stays mostly dry and a little crispy.

Ingredients

3/4 lb fried chicken bites
1 head broccoli, cut into bite-size pieces
8-10 small crimini mushrooms, stems trimmed and quartered
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tbsp toban djan (Korean chili bean sauce)
2 tsp Korean red pepper flakes
Soy sauce
Vegetable or other oil

Directions

Heat the oil in a skillet on medium heat. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the toban djan and a generous sprinkling of red pepper flakes. Saute for another minute or so, then add the broccoli and mushrooms. Toss to cover with the chili-garlic mixture and stir-fry for a few minutes. Add the chicken and a dash of soy sauce, cook for another minute or so, and then serve, probably over rice.

Dry Sauteed Long Beans with Ground Turkey

mike — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 18:40:25 +0000

This dish was modeled on the dry sauteed green beans found at some Chinese restaurants (e.g. Chiang’s in north Seattle), which is composed mainly of the beans and fine pieces of spicy ground pork. I looked at a few recipes (e.g. this one) but I was surprised to find that the beans weren’t as dry sauteed as I thought — the basic procedure is basically to deep fry them in oil, then dry sautee them with the pork. Instead, I wanted to use my dry charred approach (though I ended up with a second step that was not dry sauteed). So I took a few ideas from the recipes I found, but basically made up my own. I also substituted turkey for the pork, to keep it marginally healthier and long beans for the green beans, because I like them. Either should do fine. The end result came out about perfect, just what I was going for — a flavorful dish focused on the beans but complemented by flavorful meat.

One note: I’ve done the beans in the past in a nonstick skillet, which worked pretty well. This time I tried a non-nonstick pan and don’t think it worked as well. I’m still not sure the best pan for this.

Ingredients

Long beans cut in 2-3″ lengths, about 3 cups worth
1/2 lb ground turkey
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 green onions, chopped
chili paste, ideally with seeds (e.g. sambal olek), or sriracha otherwise
sambal olek or other chili sauce or paste
soy sauce, shao hsing wine, sugar, corn starch, vegetable oil

Directions

Combine the ground turkey with about 1 tsp salt, 1tsp pepper, and 1 tsp corn starch. Mix it with fingers and let it stand. Meanwhile, heat a 12″ nonstick skillet on medium for 2-3 minutes. Mix 1 tbsp soy, 1 tbsp shao hsing wine, 2 tsp sugar, and 1/2 tsp corn starch and set aside.

Add the long beans (no oil!) and a pinch of salt and pepper. The beans may not all fit in the pan without being piled up too much, so you may need to do this in two batches. Stir the beans occasionally for about 5 minutes, adding a little more salt and pepper as you like. The beans should start to wrinkle and shrink a little. Push the beans to one side of the skillet and add a tiny amount of soy sauce; let it burn off for a few seconds, and then stir the beans through the soy. Keep the beans moving for 2-3 more minutes, adding a little more black pepper. The beans should char a bit and continue to wrinkle and darken. Remove them from the pan.

Heat some oil in the skillet at medium-high heat. Add the turkey and brown, breaking it up with the spatula so it’s in small pieces. After 2-3 minutes, clear a space in the skillet and add some soy sauce and 1/2 to 1 tsp chili paste to taste. Let it sautee for a few seconds then mix the turkey through it. Stir the turkey only occasionally, to let it char against the bottom of the pan a little. Remove from the pan.

Turn the heat to medium and add a little oil to the pan. Add the garlic and sautee until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add about 1/3 of the soy mixture and sautee for another 30 seconds or so. Add the meat back followed by the long beans. Stir fry for a few minutes, adding the soy mixture a little at a time, along with chili paste to taste. When everything is hot and mixed thoroughly, turn off the heat. Add the green onions and mix. Serve over rice.

Pan-charred long beans with shrimp and garlic

mike — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 03:49:58 +0000

I’ve been trying to do dry stir-frying lately. The problem is I always chicken out and think I need some oil or liquid of some kind in there and end up with the more typical saucy stir-fry. I’ve also been wanting to master the long bean, which I like but have had mixed success with. Well this week I’ve been working on my long bean and I think I’ve got it right. This version came out pretty good, but of course you can mix up the meat and other vegetables however you like. The long bean is an adaptable fellow.

Ingredients

1-2 c long beans, ends chopped off, cut in 3-4in lengths
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1 c beech mushrooms (bunashimeji)
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 cherry bomb pepper, seeded and chopped
2 green onions, sliced
5 medium shrimp, completely dry
salt, pepper, olive oil, rice vinegar, smoked paprika

Directions

Heat a 10″ nonstick skillet on medium for 2-3 minutes. Add the long beans (no oil!) and a pinch of salt and pepper. Stir the beans occasionally for about 5 minutes, adding a little more salt and pepper as you like. The beans should start to wrinkle and shrink a little. Push the beans to one side of the skillet and add a tiny amount of soy sauce; let it burn off for a few seconds, and then stir the beans through the soy. Keep the beans moving for 2-3 more minutes, adding a little more black pepper. The beans should char a bit and continue to wrinkle and darken. Remove them from the pan.
Keeping the heat on medium (and no oil!) add the onions and stir them continuously. They will start to brown and pick up the charred bits from the beans. After about 3 minutes, move them to the side and add a little rice vinegar, let it bubble for a second, then continue stirring the onions. Give them about 6 minutes total, until they’re nicely browned and mellowed. Remove them from the pan too.
Next, the mushrooms. Let them sit for a minute or so, then stir gently. After 2-3 more minutes, give them a little soy, as before. They should pick up a nice brown color from the heat and soy. Remove them from the skillet!
Now add a little bit of oil to the pan, followed by the shrimp and chopped pepper. Add some salt and pepper and stir-fry until the shrimp are cooked, 3-4 minutes. Stir them all around to pick any left over charred bits. Remove from the skillet.
Finally, add a little pool of oil to the pan and let it heat briefly. Add some smoked paprika and stir fry it in the oil until it gets red and fragrant. Add the garlic and stir until fragrant. Add every back in except the shrimp and green onions. Stir it all together for a minute or so. Turn off the heat, mix in the green onions, and serve with the shrimp on top.

Baked Wontons

mike — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 05:58:03 +0000

We’ve had luck baking wonton wrappers in the oven to make chips, so we decided why not try putting something in the wontons. These came out pretty good, nice and crispy at the corners and chewier in the middle. They were a little oily, I think just because I’d brushed a little oil on the tops, which I’ll skip next time.

Ingredients

3/4 lb ground chicken (about 2:1 thigh to breast)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2″ of ginger, peeled and minced
2 green onions, minced
1/8 c soy sauce
1/8 c oyster sauce
a few grinds black pepper
wonton wrappers
soy sauce, rice wine vinegar

Directions

Heat oven to 375. Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Cook in a nonstick skillet on medium-high until cooked through. Lay wonton wrappers on a silpat-covered baking sheet. Put a spoon of the filling on each one and fold over into a triangle. Pinch the edges (if necessary, dip a finger in some water and use to seal the edges). Bake in oven until the corners brown and turn crispy, about 10 minutes. Mix some soy and rice wine vinegar for dipping and serve.